The sun was about to set but there was no sun. The waves were slamming with force at the sandy banks of the beach and there were uprooted sea grass everywhere you look. It was the rainy season but we have a long weekend to spare. With a very beery deliberation, it was decided that our feet was to be led to Dasol’s Tambobong Beach in Pangasinan.

The road was still as bumpy as I remembered it to be. It seemed doubly so now that I’m traversing it using a tricycle we rented at the Burgos Market and it was muddy due to the previous night’s rain.

I learned that the road to Dasol would finally be paved just before the year ends, in preparation for the first ever Asin Festival that was to be held near Tambobong Beach.

Everyone’s crossing their fingers for this to finally come true.

After an overnight trip, we arrived at a very windy Barangay Tambobong. Not quite the same beach I remembered during my previous visits. Summer at Tambobong Beach is a totally different experience compared to what I was seeing now. The waves were big and there were lots of debris along the beach.

We stayed for two nights at their place and basically just chilled at the weather-beaten beach.

Usually, we’d just spread a banig mat at the beach and feast on the left-over lunch with bottles of Red Horse Beer watching kids (and dogs) go by. The water may not be as blue and clear I remembered it to be, but the sand is still as creamy and fine as from years before.

During the afternoons, after there’s no more beer, we’d walk along the shore and talk with the kids we’d meet along the way. Anong ulam nyo? Our standard greeting would be. To which we’d get a shy smile for a reply. The kids at Dasol knows very little Tagalog, Ilocano being their native tongue.

As the tide ebbs, mini pools are created by the receding water making perfect bath tubs of sort. We’d each claim one for our own and watch and play with the starfishes trapped in the pool.

The starfishes found at Tambobong Beach are not as colorful as those in other beaches; there are no electric blue or fiery orange species. The ones that can usually be seen here are the thin gray ones. But still, we have fun turning them over and watching them go back up.

And from that, you can probably tell that we have lots and lots of time to spare, LOL.

And as the sun starts to set, or to put it aptly since there was really no sun to speak of; as the day ends, we’d join the kids hunting for small fishes and what-nots along the coastline. We’d then ask them the same question, Anong ulam nyo? And we’d get those same shy smiles, but this time they’d be holding up something wriggling, skewered on a stick.

How to get there: From Manila, board an Alaminos bus (P300.00). Alight at Alaminos and board a jeep going to Burgos (P27.00). Ask the driver to drop you off at Burgos Market. From there, rent a tricycle (P300.00) to Tambobong Beach.